Talking for the sake of conversation
by pushpulldynamics
Summary: Rin is a twisted and lonely soul who gets kicks from pretending to be a girl and flirting with guys on a dating site. It's just something he does to kill time. He didn't expect to find someone who he wanted to talk to for the sake of conversation. FROM CHAPTER FIVE ONWARDS I'LL ONLY BE POSTING IT ON AO3 BECAUSE IS MESSING THE FORMATTING XD Sorry and thanks.
1. Chapter 1

Rin sipped his barley tea and sighed in contentment. It was a lovely night. A lovely night to break some hearts. He eased his way into his desk chair, swivelled around for a bit, and then slid it closer to his desk. Typing deftly, Rin logged into a dating site and waited for some idiot to start hitting on him.

For some reason, he was almost always contacted as soon as he was logged on. Today was no exception.

**Bigbadguy200**: hey babe

_Honestly, what is with that URL?_

Rin rolled his eyes and began typing.

**Sakurapool**: hello ^-^  
**Bigbadguy200**: where are you from?

_Oh. How boring. Better end this conversation soon._

**Sakurapool**: somewhere. Speaking of which, I gtg.  
**Bigbadguy200**: …wtf?

Rin pressed the "block user" option and smirked in quiet satisfaction. He took another sip from his cup whilst scrolling through various people's profiles. Most of them looked mundane, over the top and forced. Being a psychology major, it amused Rin no end as he applied social interaction theories and analysed the various responses. It was also great fun because everyone thought he was a girl.

A new profile was created.

Rin would have overlooked it if it hadn't caught his eye.

**Haruka20**  
Age: 20  
Gender: male  
Details: swimming.

It caught his eye for three reasons. One, the profile details were short. Usually people filled out their profile to the brim in order to convince some other lonely loser to pick them up on a common ground of interest. But this guy…he only put in one word and that word was the second reason. Swimming. Fuck. Rin loved swimming. And if this guy hadn't bothered with any other details, not even his appearance or job details, well… that must mean that he was dead serious about swimming. Lastly, Haruka? That was such a girly name. Not that Rin was any better. Ok. He was a hypocrite but whatever.

Rin licked his lips and decided to send Haruka20 a message.

* * *

Nagisa nervously swiped his forehead.

He was in Haruka's room making a dating profile for his romantically challenged friend. It was meant to be a joke but privately Nagisa was hoping that Haruka would warm up to the idea. In all their years from elementary to college, he had never seen Haruka involved with anyone romantically. No. His friend was only focussed on swimming and goddamn mackerel.

Nagisa didn't have the time to make it fancy because Haruka was downstairs with Makoto and they could be coming up at any moment to check up on him. He wasn't sure why they didn't trust him to be alone. The thought made him sad for a moment.

A message came through almost instantly after he had uploaded the profile page. The notification tone nearly made him jump out of his skin. After calming down, Nagisa scoffed, "Sakurapool? What kind of name is that?"

He moved the mouse over the minimize button, stood up and then proceeded to lie on the ground. He made himself look comfortable by the time Haruka and Makoto came to fetch him. They didn't suspect anything when he lazily stretched and mumbled, "Aww. Is it time to go already?" Makoto gave him a slight nod and a smile before offering to walk him to the train station. Nagisa was  
about to decline but then he changed his mind. "Yeah. Thanks Mako-chan! See you Haru-chan!"

* * *

Rin tapped his fingers across the hard wooden table. He had been waiting for two minutes and still there was no answer. The bastard couldn't have missed his message because hadn't he just finished completing his profile page? Oh god. Maybe he came off as a desperate whore? Shit. How depressing.

Another five minutes passed before a notification came through.

**Haruka20**: Sorry. My friend hacked my laptop. I'm not doing this.

Rin blinked as he processed the information. His lips spread into a grin. Now this was a bit more interesting. He quickly typed back a response.

**Sakurapool**: that's interesting. I was having a boring day. Give my thanks to your friend for making  
me laugh.

_Haruka20 is typing_

**Haruka20:** ok

"OK?" Rin repeated in a hollow voice. "That's it?"

After a moment of silence, Rin started to laugh in amusement.

* * *

Haruka rubbed his eyes. He was so tired. So very tired. The day had started with training and had ended with college. Then Makoto and Nagisa invited themselves over in order to play some games in his living room. At some point during their fierce battle, Makoto received a phone call and Nagisa had disappeared, leaving Haruka to fend for himself against an army of zombies. It was a long day.

He shuffled around in his bedroom and sat down onto his bed. He was just about to tuck himself in when he realised that his laptop was still turned on.

"Why?" He whispered pitifully in the darkness.

Groaning as he pulled himself out from the warmth and comfort of his bed, Haruka trudged over to his desk and started to close all the open window tabs methodically.

His eyes widened upon viewing the dating site.  
"Nagisa…"

He clicked open the message and read over it briefly.

**Sakurapool:** Hello. Do you have a moment?

Normally, Haruka would have logged out without a warning but for some reason he felt compelled to explain his rather unorthodox position. Perhaps he wanted to clear himself of guilt or perhaps he felt a bit annoyed at being set up into something he did not want. In any case…he typed out a couple of responses and still… this girl was still talking to him and it was strange that he didn't mind the little  
banter.

**Sakurapool:** did your friend make up the fact that you like swimming?  
**Haruka20**: no.  
**Sakurapool:** I see. That's good! I messaged you because I love swimming too.  
**Haruka20**: That's good.

Haruka yawned. His eyes glanced over to the corner of the screen and took note of the time. It was only 10pm but he really needed to go to bed soon.

* * *

This guy was weird. He didn't even try to flirt with Rin. He was like an oblivious rock to the forces of  
potential mating.

It was refreshing.

This guy was refreshing. He was different and challenging.

Rin loved a challenge.

"I'll make you fall for me." He whispered to nobody in particular. Eyes gleaming with excitement, hands itching to type out bullshit.

He needed professional help.

_Haruka20 has logged off._


	2. Chapter 2

He ran into a blue haired snob that morning.

"Look where you're going!"

The offending figure merely hitched up his red glasses and stated hotly, "You are the one who turned the corner without any regard for what may be around the other side!"

The megane boy was about to continue his self-righteous rant before he caught sight of Rin's grazed elbow. It was bleeding.

"Oh my god I'm so terribly sorry!" He crawled over to Rin and then proceeded to open his bag, rummaging through its contents before handing over antiseptic cream and bandages.

"Uh thanks?" Rin reached out for the items but the megane boy decided to take matters into his own hands.

Rin raised an eyebrow in amusement but didn't say anything as the boy began his treatment.

"What's your name?"

"U-um…Rei."

Rei finished bandaging the wound and looked up apologetically at Rin.

"My name is Rin. Thanks for this…" Rin smiled, it was a brief smile and rather forced at that, but still it was better than nothing. The tension left Rei's shoulders and he stood up abruptly.

"Well Rin, it was nice meeting you. I have to go…"

Rin nodded lightly and stood up as well, brushing down the dirt on his trackpants.

"Goodbye."

What a shit start to the day…

Rin shook his head and resumed his morning run.

* * *

_**Nagisa**_

_**7.45am**_

_Haru-chan! I forgot to give you the password for that site!_

_It's mackerel4eva ^-^ Hope you had fun last night!_

_**Haru**_

_**7.50am**_

_You are banned from my room for a week._

After tossing his cellphone to the side, Haruka dried off his hair and walked over to the kitchen. He leaned against the countertop and breathed in heavily through his nose.

"I need a break." He said aloud to the empty silence was broken by a pathetic beeping noise which came from his bedroom.

_**Nagisa**_

_**8.01am**_

_I will sneak in. You can't stop me. See you in class Haru-chan!_

Haruka closed his eyes and muttered, "I need a break from everything."

* * *

The lecture was boring and the content was difficult to understand. Haruka stared blankly at the projector screen for most of the time whereas Nagisa and Makoto fell asleep within the first ten minutes into the lecture. They were doomed for the upcoming test, Haruka could feel it. He glanced over at their drooling faces and resigned himself to taking notes on their behalf. His resolve soon crumbled when the professor started to delve into the actual physics of fluid dynamics.

Somebody tapped him on the shoulder from the row behind.

"What is it?" Haruka asked Rei.

"I can go over the concepts with you guys tonight if you need help?"

Haruka's mouth went dry. He only nodded dumbly and tried to smile in appreciation, but he hardly ever smiled and so it turned into a lopsided grimace of sorts.

"Haruka are you ok?" Rei's eyes widened and had unconsciously moved away from him.

"Yes I-uh… thanks." He cleared his throat. "My house."

Rei nodded. His gaze then diverted and latched onto Nagisa's sleeping figure. His furrowed brow softened and he released a small chuckle full of affection.

_I see…_

Haruka turned around to face the front once more.

With the knowledge that Rei would be able to help them later on that night, Haruka let himself fall into a deep slumber.

All three of them were called back after the lecture had ended.

"Do you know how distracting it is to see three students, sitting side by side might I add, sleeping deeply in the midst of a lecture? And you-" The lecturer pointed at Makoto and Makoto flinched in surprise, "-you even dared to snore towards the last fifteen minutes! I'm just in awe how you three managed to get into the programme…"

* * *

"Why did I even take that paper?" Nagisa sighed into his knees.

"Because you need it for your major. I took it because there was nothing else to do." Makoto sat down on the bench beside his golden haired friend and gave a warm smile. "But don't worry, we'll manage."

"No we won't! I don't understand anything these days! I hate engineering! I should have just gone for business or even law!"

The melodramatics went on for a while and during that time Haruka began to wonder why he had decided to take an engineering paper. He wasn't amazing at physics or calculus, and since he was studying architecture, he didn't necessarily need to take this paper. To be honest, he took it because all his friend's were taking it. What a mistake that was.

Haruka sighed before settling down beside Makoto. Everything was so difficult.

"Rei said that he will help us out. I told him to come over tonight."

* * *

They studied for over three hours straight and had managed to get the basic concepts covered over the last few days.

"Tomorrow we can focus on the harder topics and those that he hinted that will be in the exam." Rei looked over their half dead faces and chuckled lightly. "But you know lecturers never put in the stuff that they said they would. Rather evil of them really."

"They are the devil incarnate." Nagisa muttered darkly into the wooden floor. He was lying on the ground again and had his arms splayed out at weird angles. It made him look like a crab.

"Nagisa get off the floor." The whine came from Makoto, who happened to be a closet clean freak and was silently having a panic attack at the possible diseases that Nagisa could pick up from lying prostrate across the dusty floors. "Please don't breathe in so deeply. You'll get sick."

"Mamakoto strikes again!" Nagisa hopped up and laughed at Makoto's blushing face.

"Wait. Where's Haruka?" Rei asked suddenly.

He had been absent from the living room for a good thirty minutes.

* * *

**Dolphinator:** I can't hold them off. Take my ammo and leave me.

**Sharkbait:** Are you crazy?! There's no way I'm gonna leave you here to die!

**Dolphinator:** Don't be stupid Sharkbait!

**Sharkbait:** Fuck it. We'll die together.

They had found each other by accident and since then had become a formidable duo in the apocalyptic world full of zombies. Inseparable. It was a strange but nice relationship. Haruka shook his head and typed quickly.

**Dolphinator: **Just take my ammo and run!

**Sharkbait:** Shut up dolphin boy

Haruka grabbed his hair and tugged on it harshly. Why wasn't the fool listening to him? He didn't need to sacrifice his life...

The zombies found their hideout. They were outnumbered. Sharkbait threw grenades to one side of the building and ran across to meet with Haruka's avatar. Haruka's avatar had only 50 life points left. He was going to die soon. They stood back to back.

**Sharkbait:** the tension is killing me

Haruka grit his teeth and clicked on the large calibre gun.

**Dolphinator:** You are annoying

**Sharkbait:** Not as annoying as you. We're a team dolphin boy. Get over it.

They fought against the wave of zombies together but the end was inevitable. Haruka sighed and leaned back against his chair.

"Haru?"

It was Makoto.

"You're playing that MMORPG again?" Rei scrutinised the screen and sighed. "You're dead already? Thirty minutes is pretty terrible considering the re-spawn time is around an hour. I think I lasted at least three hours..."

Haruka glared at him through his dark lashes. It was bad enough that he had caused the death of his comrade but now he was being told that theywere rather pathetic at the game.

"Wait! Let's all meet up online tonight!" Nagisa hopped around looking excited. He was trying to diffuse Haruka's irritation and Rei's obvious display of superiority. "It's a Friday and we have nothing else to do!"

**Sharkbait:** Well then, I'm heading off. Nice playing with you again.

* * *

_Dolphinator is typing…_

Rin was about to log off but he waited patiently for the response. Rin smiled. He had become rather fond of this Dolphinator person. It was the URL. He always had a weak spot for dolphins. That and the guy was pretty decent with explosives. Ok, and the fact that they both used proper Japanese no matter how terrifying the situation was.

**Dolphinator:** My friends want to play until late. I'll be online til 2am if you ever come back

His face broke out into a grin and he couldn't help but feel a bit happy at the invitation. Wow. He really didn't have that many friends huh? Getting excited over something like this…But still.

**Sharkbait: **Thanks.

_Sharkbait has logged out._


	3. Chapter 3

"Marriage." Rin said. Tongue thick and heavy.

"Marriage." His father and mother affirmed.

Teacups clinked against the fine china.

"Marriage." Rin nodded dumbly. He felt sick but instead of throwing up, the young boy laughed half-heartedly and scratched the back of his head. "But I'm only ten, isn't this a bit too early?"

"Technically speaking, yes, but this is about your engagement."

He fidgeted a little in the seat. Although it was an expensive piece of furniture made for the purposes of comfort and elegance, Rin had never gotten accustomed to the feel of it. It made him feel like he had to sit up straight and proper all the time. It made him feel pretentious and tired.

He bit his lip and waited for his parent's to continue talking because the concept of marriage was still rather foreign in his mind. At school they taught you that marriage was a promise between two people who loved each other, whilst at home, marriage was something like a business contract. The two contradicting views on marriage had confused Rin and thus he had chosen to ignore it altogether. Who knew that fate would kick him in the gut so soon?

"Her name is Chigusa Hanamura. She is the same age as Gou and is the daughter of the CEO of TDC." His mother settled her hands on top of her knees and looked at him calmly. "We will be meeting them tomorrow evening and so you will be needing a new suit."

Obviously he had no say in the matter and so Rin could only nod in silence. But deep inside he knew that this situation was wrong and that it was unfair. When he was ushered into the car by their chauffeur later on, buckled in and attended to by his security guards; the beginnings of resentment began to pool in his stomach.

He was privileged, smart, good looking and excelled at sports too. Rin Matsuoka had it all. He had everything. Naturally, people started to follow him around, attracted to his exterior positivity and perfection. They said what they thought would please him most, they laughed at his witty jokes and they smiled at him whenever his glance graced their simpering forms. It disgusted him. People were disgusting.

"I'm what?" His accidently dropped his fork and received an admonishing look from one of the maids.

"Going abroad to study. We want you to experience another culture and learn English while you're at it."

Rin gripped his fork (replaced with a new one) and knife tightly. He let his heart calm down a bit before asking why. Apparently they thought it would be good for him and later on down the track when he applied for university.

"But all my friends are here and we were going to go to the same high school…" His voice trailed off when he saw his father's stern gaze.

He left for Australia at the end of his final middle school year.

And then everything changed.

Rin woke up to the sound of his phone ringing in the empty apartment. He was glad that something pulled him out from his nightmare but when he saw who it was, he couldn't help but pull a face. He flipped a coin and unfortunately it landed on heads. It was a small quirk of his. Heads meant "yes" whereas tails meant "no". He groaned at the coin as it meant that he needed to answer the call. He hastily swiped his thumb across the screen.

"What is it Gou?"

"I just wanted to wish you happy birthday!"

Rin blinked in the darkness, slightly taken aback by her kindness.

"Oh…thank you." Shakily, he ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, "You remembered."

"Of course…" Gou breathed in heavily, pausing before her next statement. She was nervous..

Rin tossed the coin again and watched its trajectory.

"Are you ever going to come home?"

The coin landed on tails and so he hung up on her.

It was around one in the morning and Rin couldn't get back to sleep. He turned on his laptop and stared blankly at the various tabs he had saved from the night previous.

"What am I doing?"

He clicked on the zombie MMO and logged into his account; at the same time, he also logged into the dating site.

After scanning through his messages and deleting all but the one containing his conversation with Haruka20, Rin stretched up into the sky and let out a deep sigh.

He started to type out a long message to Haruka20 but then paused.

"What am I doing…"

It wasn't as if he expected a response from the nice weirdo. Judging from their previous interaction, it was highly unlikely that the guy was going to use his account anymore. He was hacked after all and had seemed uninterested in their conversation. This line of reasoning allowed Rin to do what he was about to do. He needed release. He needed somebody to talk to but at the same time he didn't want to talk to anybody. This was perfect.

**Rockhopperpout:** HARUUUU-CHAAAAAN!

**Orcasonhigh:** Nagisa, I don't think Haru's online. It's 12.30am anyway

**Rockhopperpout: **But y is his status green?

**Orcasonhigh:** He leaves it like that because

**Rayofbeauty:** hello everyone

**Orcasonhigh: **he can't be bothered. Oh hey Rei :)

**Dolphinator: **I'm here

**Orcasonhigh:** oh

**Rayofbeauty: **hello makoto

**Rockhopperpout:** Haruuu-chan listen listen! u have to log in to that dating site and change the email correspondence to urs ok? I keep getting emails from weird girls and guys asking about the size of ur measurements

**Orcasonhigh: what?!**

**Rayofbeauty: dating site?**

**Dolphinator:** …fine

Haruka signed into the dating site with the password Nagisa had sent him yesterday morning. He went into "edit personal details" and changed the primary email address to his own. Surprisingly, there were over thirty messages from random strangers. Haruka started to delete each email one by one.

_New message from Sakurapool_

**Sakurapool:** hey there. Not sure if you remember me nor if you will read this, but I need somebody to talk to, and I guess I don't want to talk to anybody I know in reality because reality is a bitch. I got a phone call from home today and it reminded me of all the things that I had forgotten…Do you trust people I wonder? I don't. No that's not right. It's not a choice for me. I just can't…

**Haruka20:** I see. What happened?

**Sakurapool:** oh

**Haruka20: **?

**Sakurapool:** you're online…haha well this is embarrassing.

**Haruka20:** I was about to delete my account

**Sakurapool:** sorry but can you not?

Haruka didn't know what to do and so he changed to Skype.

**Dolphinator:** back. Question: should I keep the dating account?

**Rockhopperpout:** YES! Tell me when you get a girlfriend ;P

**Orcasonhigh:** I don't see why not. Just be careful

**Rayofbeauty:** yes, there are stalkers and human traffickers and bad people online

**Rockhopperpout: **bad people online. BAD PEOPLE ONLINE! Hahahhaa XD

He nodded his head at their responses and quickly typed back to the girl.

**Haruka20:** OK

**Sakurapool:** thank you and sorry. I'm not usually like this I think? I'm not sure…sorry I'm just tired.

**Haruka20:** go to bed

**Sakurapool:** hahaha I tried. Don't worry about it. It's ok to be tired.

**Dolphinator:** Sharkbait?

**Sharkbait:** I'm here

**Dolphinator:** do you play LOL?

**Sharkbait:** not really. WOW? Phantasy Star?

**Dolphinator: **…no

**Sharkbait: **I feel betrayed

**Dolphinator: **do you have skype?

Rin debated whether or not he should give dolphin boy his sacred contact details. Sure. Whatever. He was alright for someone who didn't play WOW.

**Sharkbait:** yeah I do. It's the same username

**Dolphinator:** there are over 20 users with that name

**Sharkbait:** ….is that even possible? Skype is weird. Wait. I'll add you then.

**Dolphinator:** ok. My name is the same

**Sharkbait:** is your profile picture…a fish?

**Dolphinator:** Mackerel. Yes.

**Sharkbait:** why did I add you? Jk XD

Rin flinched at the sound of a notification.

_Haruka20 sent a new message_

**Haruka20:** are you feeling better now?

**Sakurapool:** yeah. Playing games now. It's good.

**Haruka20:** me too. Tired though.

**Sakurapool:** go to bed

_**Haruka20 **__has logged out_

**Sakurapool**: you suck


	4. Chapter 4

He didn't agree to the arrangement at first.

"But Haru, you love swimming and you need a better job…" Makoto had pleaded with him. "Look, I really need somebody to replace me and you're the only one I know who can actually _swim swim_. It's only for three months."

He really didn't mind the swimming part. No, that part was good. It was just that…

"-adults are really keen on learning the basics-"

_Oh no. God no._

Haruka interrupted Makoto's soliloquy with a shake of his head. "No Makoto. Kids, maybe. Adults? No."

"Why not?"

"I…I'm not good with people." Haruka admitted frankly, to which Makoto nodded and received a glare from his socially awkward friend.

"Are kids not people?"

"No. I mean…I can't talk well."

"Haru…" Makoto sighed and rubbed his temples slowly. "If you take up this job, you get paid double the amount you are currently earning at your part time."

"But-"

"And the classes are two hours long. In the morning. Like, I dunno, when you don't have classes?"

"Yes but-"

"You get free access to the pools."

After being tested for his abilities and receiving basic staff training (along with CPR and first aid), Haruka was now officially working as a part time swimming instructor at the biggest swimming pool in their town.

He had to learn to adapt to different people and to resist the urge to shrug and roll his eyes at the utter incompetence of the people he had to teach-because, wow, they really didn't understand the concept of holding their breath underwater nor that they needed to move their limbs (in rather straightforward steps mind you) in order to stay afloat and move.

"I did it!" Shouted a 26 year old man who had managed to reach the other side of the pool's width.

And Haruka felt proud. He felt happy when he saw his pupils reach a goal that they had set for themselves. Soon, he became quite sought after for being a good teacher, the attention was flattering, it made him content.

"So, how are the classes going?"

Haruka didn't look at Makoto when he muttered, "Good."

"That's good to hear."

"Stop laughing."

"I'm not laughing."

One morning, Haruka visited the pool extra early, and began to swim a relaxing lap across its length. However his peace was to be shaken by a disturbance in the force, so to speak. Somebody was racing him the next lane and they were good. They were egging him on. Normally, Haruka avoided confrontations of any sort, but of course, "normal" did not include swimming races. So they raced each other for no other reason, in sync and in determination.

"Wow…you're good." said a low voice from the adjacent lane, slightly breathy from the race.

Haruka whipped off his goggles and blinked a couple of times before turning his head slightly to his left.

Oh.

Ok.

Rin bit his lip and literally stopped breathing when blue eyes met his. How cliché. But cliché or not, Rin couldn't help but notice how the blue eyes widened and gleamed for the briefest of moments before they focussed and readjusted their normal size. Still utterly gorgeous and breath-taking and... that reminded Rin that he needed to take a breath.

"Thank you. You are too."

What? Oh right…he had almost forgotten what he had said.

"I'm Rin by the way." He leaned across on a divider and dashed out a killer grin. "What's your name?"

The blue eyed boy looked taken aback by his question. His lips parted (oh wow, they looked so soft) and he looked away before muttering, "Not telling."

Rin's initial shock was soon replaced by mirth.

"You're so weird. Fine then…what if we play a little game?"

"Annoying." And the blue eyed boy started to swim the length again. But Rin wasn't giving up that easily.

They swam like crazy.

The few morning swimmers, who had just straggled in, turned their heads at the amazing display. Rin and the blue eyed boy were phenomenal. Ripping along the pool at speeds which rivalled competitive swimmers.

This time when their hands slapped against the pool edge and Rin had turned around to speak to the strange boy; he found himself panting, slightly red-faced, and totally exhilarated from the race. He hadn't felt like this for so long and it made him want to breathe beyond lung capacity. He felt so happy, elated, and fucking amazing that he forgot to speak.

Although his facial muscles didn't move an inch, Rin could tell from the way his eyes lit up that the other boy was looking at him with slight amusement.

"Name?" Rin blurted out at last, desperate for some unknown reason, and falling hard for that goddamn perfect face and swimming and just wow this was amazing.

The boy frowned (ah, an expression!) and merely flicked his wet hair away from his eyes.

"Not telling."

"Why not?" Rin knew that he was being absurd. He sounded like a little spoilt brat but fuck it.

"You're…I don't even know you so why should I?"

"Oh. I'm Rin."

The boy rolled his eyes and sighed.

Gosh he was beautiful.

"Whatever. I have to go now." The boy tilted his head and added as an afterthought, "See you… Rin."

He was definitely teasing him with that sentence right there but Rin didn't get the chance to give a smartass rebuttal because the boy was already out of the pool and walking away.

**Haru**

**10.25am**

Makoto, I want to quit.

**Makoto**

**10.36am**

Sorry Haru for the late reply. Why? WHY? You were doing so well and everyone loves you!

**Haru**

**10.42am**

I don't want to do it anymore. I have a stalker. Not really a stalker. But. I'll talk to you later.

**Makoto**

**10.43am**

What. What? OMG Haru are you ok? Do you need me to come by? Wait. Um.

**Haru**

**10.45am**

Makoto. I'm fine. I'll tell you later in class today.

He wasn't a stalker as such but he was annoying as hell. Good looking, good at swimming, good at being annoying. And he somehow managed to track Haruka down every morning. Every morning. The pool was no longer a sanctuary but rather a battle zone.

"I don't care about times." He admitted one day to the red-haired nuisance.

"What? Why not? What's the point in swimming then?"

Haruka sighed and rolled his eyes (he was doing this so frequently around the red-head that he was feared that his eyeballs would become severed from his optic nerves, fall out and float away to the other side of the pool) before saying, "I swim because it makes me feel at one with the water. Times are stupid."

And of course the little shit had to go and laugh at his statement, but when Haruka whipped his head around to glare at him, he found that the other boy was smiling at him rather kindly, and it dampened Haruka's anger. Just a bit.

"That's the longest sentence you've ever said to me." Rin floated on his back and looked up at the clear ceiling above. The sky was brilliant blue. "And times are not stupid, they are rather important when you're racing. Like take us for example. Who is faster?"

Haruka blinked at him.

"We don't know right?" The red-head suddenly grinned and swam closer towards him. "But we can have a little race. A real race. Put some conditions on it. Whatever we want."

He must've looked unimpressed because Rin pouted a little bit, puffing out his cheeks in exasperation and not in an attempt at being cute, but Haruka found it to be cute. How horrible. A cute stalker.

"Look no-name, I have a great idea. If I win this race, you tell me your name. But-" Rin stopped Haruka's protest with pointed stare and then continued, "But if I lose…I'll…I'll leave you be." He sounded and looked so dejected that Haruka almost wanted to pat him on the head. Almost.

But it was a good deal.

It was too good.

It was good.

It was…not what he wanted.

"No deal." And he swam away.

**Sakurapool:** Hey do you think it'd be weird if I started to like another girl?

**Haruka20:** Not really

**Sakurapool: **Really? I mean…not that I'm…it's just that there's this girl that I think I'm kinda…ok I like her.

**Haruka20:** I see.

**Sakurapool:** But the thing is, she probably doesn't like me.

**Haruka20:** As long as you don't annoy her

**Sakurapool:** … too late for that. I pretty much follow her around every time we meet. I can't help it though. She's just amazing. She's so good a swimming and her face and her voice…it's weird how I've kinda fallen based on looks and talent alone. I'm not usually like this. Like she's so interesting and I love annoying her and seeing how she reacts and the quiet way she talks. I don't know why she affects me this much.

**Haruka20:** It doesn't sound like it's just her looks or talent that you like about her.

**Sakurapool:** yeah. That's the problem.

**Haruka20:** ?

Rin sighed. He didn't understand. He really didn't understand why he was confessing this to a random guy on a dating site-fuck, what were they doing anyway? They hardly ever talked to other people on the website anymore and instead became solid friends—but he didn't really want to ask Seijuuro or Nitori for advice, because they were pretty useless, and less neutral about everything. Haruka20 was chill as they could come. He took anything in his stride and it was somewhat nice to be able to talk to somebody who would never judge him.

**Sakurapool:** Have you ever fallen in love before? I haven't. Never. I;ve told you this before haven't I? I can't really...trust people. But this is really different. Like I can't even tell you. It's not simple. I don't get it.

**Haruka20:** I haven't. And don't worry, I'm not saying that you're joking around. Seems serious.

Rin took in a deep breath. Wow. This guy was surprisingly introspective. Unlike that dipshit. Damn that dipshit and his blue eyes and his perfect everything.

**Sakurapool:** I don't even know her name tbh. I don't know what she does for a living. How old she is. What colour she likes. Music. Favourite food. All we ever do is argue and swim.

**Haruka20:** Um…ask her for her name?

Rin scoffed indignantly into his cup of coffee and nearly spilt the whole cup down his front.

**Sakurapool: ** Seriously…you think I haven't tried?

_Haruka20 is typing…_

Haruka bit his lip. He really wasn't good at these sort of things. Why did she have to ask him of all people? To be fair, they had begun this weird counsellor and patient relationship after Haruka asked her for advice on how to stop his friend (Nagisa) from dropping out of an exam the week before finals started, then they slowly progressed, and now, well…Haruka was a love consultant for a sexually confused and frustrated girl.

**Haruka20:** Look. You just need to tell her that you like her.

**Sakurapool:** No. Lol. No….Ah whatever. Who cares. It'll work out.

Haruka shrugged at the computer screen and looked at the time. It was 1am. Time to close this chat and play COD with Sharkbait.

**Sakurapool: **Hey it's 1am. Gtg. Thanks for talking and night.

**Haruka20: ** no problem. Sorry. And night.

Almost immediately, Sharkbait's skype notification came through.

**Sharkbait: **Ready?

**Dolphinator:** Whenever you are.


End file.
